SSDI SSI For Mental Illness Pay is wack

Lounge
1

Pay based on work credit does not make sense when illness impacts ability to work at all, work for short period of time or working at higher wages.

How is this fair. I swear the US system needs reform.

If SZ onset during teen years, you might qualify for SSI average monthly base amount of $7-800 because they never work and pay FICA taxes.
If you were lucky to work a few years you then might get SSDI but at lower benefit Pay because of short work history or entry level jobs. $1000+

That doesn’t even pay rent.

I got SSDI this year and learned how it works.

I’m not complaining for myself., but for my cousins who also have SZ and all those who have never worked and can’t get support.

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2

Do you know if they can reduce your SSDI payment amount if you start working part time and make under 1000 a month?

3

Sounds like you need to get a job then

4

Generally, SSDI recipients can’t do what’s considered “substantial gainful activity” (SGA) and continue to receive disability benefits. SGA means you’re working and making more than $1,310 per month.

But SSA set up a program to encourages you to go back to work through a “back to work program”.

SSA considers any month where a person has a monthly income of more than $940 to be a trial work month. Once you have completed the nine-month trial work period (the months do not need to be consecutive), you can still receive SSDI for any month where your earnings fall below the SGA level, for a period of 36 months.

This three-year period is called the “extended period of eligibility.” In other words, if you earn less than $1,310 in any month during this period, you will get benefits, but if you earn more than $1,310 in any month, you won’t get disability benefits for that month (after a three-month grace period).

5

I can’t work anymore so I get SSDI.

6

Thanks for the info. I just started working 16 hours a week and I am hoping to stay on SSDI.

7

You will - glad you are able to work and make bring in extra income.

You can always talk to your Case Worker.

8

Fair enough. Don’t moan then!

9

I complain because SS is outdated.

Democrats are proposing the Social Security Act 2100: Among a few things,
it would boost social security benefits,
update the cost-of-living adjustment that has failed to keep pace with living expenses,
cut the 5 month disability waiting period
and ensure benefits can be paid for years to come.

This affects all of us and we need to demand it. If this doesn’t get passed before 2022, we’ll be stuck with what we got and possibly lose our benefits in the future.

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Another wack SSDI rule:

You must be disabled for five months after your disability onset date before you can start receiving SSD cash payments. Since Social Security doesn’t pay disability benefits during the waiting period, you won’t get paid back payments for the five months of the waiting period).

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Getting help for a schizophrenic in the USA is hard to navigate.

12

It’s a social program. Mainly for retirement in your elderly years. You pay into it your whole working life.

If you have paid the maximum the benefits are more than that and Medicare is a good deal for elderly people who don’t have insurance otherwise.

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13

I worked my tail off and am grateful for what the government and tax payers pay me. I paid into the system and it was there when I needed it.

It’s not perfect but it is something.

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I’ve been paying in my whole adult life. Now I’m applying for SSDI benefits, and if I’m understanding correctly, I can get back pay as far back as my onset of diagnosis, which has basically been my whole life. Or am I wrong?

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No they determine when your diagnosis made you unable to work.

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16

Oh. Well, I’m going to have a lawyer handle it for me. They only get a fee out of how much back pay they get you, so they are VERY motivated to get as much back pay as possible.

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I didn’t pay in much, and I didn’t get much. But I documented that I was disabled before age 22, so I got 2/3’s the amount my Dad was getting.

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18

Be grateful that disability payment is accessible here in the states.
In many countries its nearly impossible to get disability.

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19

I worked from ages 14 to 37. I was paid low wages so I only got $700 in SSDI. It’s so unfair

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20

Oh you can pay rent on the side of town no one wants to live in. That’s why I quit working because i was damned if i did damned if i didn’t. Believe it or not it’s actually better than it used to be with additions like being able to keep your old car and the ABLE account. And there’s always room for improvement.

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